1. Field of the Invention
The present invention involves a television apparatus and/or system for allowing a user of a display device, such as a television apparatus, having digital serial bus ports to select digital content from a designated digital input source connected to the television apparatus and continuously record the digital content into a digital recording device connected to the television apparatus.
2. Background Information
Users today expect more out of their home entertainment systems than their older counterpart home entertainment systems. For years, users have been able to record standard analog broadcasts via a VCR. In recent years, hard drive based systems have allowed the user to record a digital copy of an analog broadcast, as well as allowing the user to play the track back while it is being recorded. Devices that do this are currently only being used to record analog broadcasts, but there is a desire to have the same functionality with digital broadcasts.
Digital broadcasts lend themselves to this sort of functionality, since there is no need to digitize the data. A user may record a perfect copy of what is coming to him over the high definition (HD) tuner onto a digital medium. Devices such as TiVo™ and ReplayTV™ are known for encoding and recording data onto a hard disk drive. These units pioneered the concept of a personal video recorder or PVR, which allows a user to “pause live TV”. Particularly, these units let the user pause, rewind, fast forward, frame advance, and select many other functions commonly known as “trick modes” on a TV program that the user is currently watching. They do this by recording the content and playing it back at least slightly delayed from the real content. The delay in playback occurs because the content is first buffered before it is processed and displayed. If the user rewinds or pauses the show, then the playback remains that far behind the current TV show (or live TV). These devices give the user the option to switch back to live TV whenever the user desires, but the concept of “live TV” now means one or two seconds delayed due to the constant recording that is being done in the background.
Certain HDTVs (high definition televisions), such as the DM2CR based products manufactured by Thomson, Inc. of Indianapolis, Ind., allow the user to connect an external AVHDD (Audio-Video Hard Disk Drive) via a digital serial bus such as the IEEE 1394 digital serial bus, which a user can use to gain PVR-type functionality. This is not a PVR in the sense described above, since the user has to initiate any recordings (i.e. the AVHDD is not continuously recording all content). Also, the DM2CR HDTV only allows digital content from the TV's tuner to be recorded. Moreover, a user must initiate and stop the recording.
A line of HDTVs by Mitsubishi allows for the recording of one digital serial bus device to another serial bus device, but does not allow the user to operate these devices as a PVR. Particularly, the user sets up timed recordings from a menu while the television initiates and ends the recording in the background.
It is thus evident from the above that what a user really wants is the ability to record digital data directly from a satellite or cable box to a hard drive disk unit connected to the television apparatus.
It is thus also evident from the above that what is needed is a television that can cause recording of digital data from any digital data source connected to the television onto a hard disk drive component connected to the television.
It is thus further evident from the above that what is needed is a television that can cause recording of digital data from any digital data source connected to the television onto a hard disk drive component and simultaneously displayed on the television.
These needs and others are met through application of the principles of the subject invention as embodied in one or more various forms and/or structures such as are shown and/or described herein.